They will continue to have blind buy-in as a past of OP events.

Which I'm fine with.

As they are optional.

And venues can continue to cater their events to the likings of their clients.

Just because they are optional NOW, doesn't mean they always will be.

Okay. You win.

WK is the devil!!

I didn't win anything, I'm just following the logical procession of how this type of marketing tends to evolve, especially where Wizkids is concerned.

Saying "they're optional" and playing that out as a practical stance are two completely different things.

One argument that has been made in favor of sealed games is that it prevents the obnoxious min/max builds that only appear in constructed games. Personally, I take that as an indication of a poorly balanced game, but whatever.

Some people also just think it's fun, because it forces you to play something that you might not normally reach for when building your team, therefore changing up the play experience a bit and avoiding too much stagnation.

I don't feel like I've seen too much power-gaming in STAW yet anyways, so it's not really a problem that needs solving, and I also don't think that making a game part sealed, part constructed would prevent the kind of min/max that people worry about, but I get why some people like sealed games.

Tom (from the Dice Tower) sharing some pics from AW:D&D

https://twitter.com/thedicetower/sta...89332920655873

and

https://twitter.com/thedicetower/sta...90726683676672

It appears the dragons are going to be starting out (at least some of them) on what we would think of as 2x2 bases hence the price we've heard.

Also that Gold Dragon (right?) looks really good.

So far so good.......not sure about it but I might pick up the starter.

The problem with them being blind and "optional" is that if one or two of those ships have game breaking abilities and/or upgrades (you know they will eventually) then it ceases to become optional and becomes a mandatory thing to attempt to grab or trade for.

This is definitely a test to see if AW players will swallow the same #### that most Heroclix players do. It's also hilarious that this stuff is coming around the same time as WoL. WK is wanting to line their pockets with some heavy profits off of all this stuff (and whatever else they hold back and sell on the secondary market)

Definitely not happy right now with WK.

did you take over for Mucho as their new spokesman?

They call them FANatics for a reason.

You can prevent min/max by promoting faction pure in your tournaments. Wizkids could also change the rules to allow only faction pure ships or increase the point penalty for cross faction mixing. Forcing sealed doesn't really seem to solve this problem (if it actually is one) at all as players will now go into a tournament knowing they more then likely won't be able to play faction pure when pulling a blind ship, and not knowing the power of that ship or how it will be balanced with the rest of their fleet, will instead come with a min/max team to offset a possible poor blind pull.

Why is there a need to force anyone to play something they don't want to?

agreed.

That seems to be the most logical conclusion for those who understand that this isn't a rational change to an already awesome game. Unfortunately there are a few people who champion anything and everything Wizkids does and would rather go down with the ship then admit Wizkids might have a flaw or two..

1. Has absolutely no bearing on the arguement. The argument is against forcing people who want to play in an event to buy blind product, not the price of said product.

2. Again, no bearing on the actual argument that people do not wish to buy "blind" product.

3. Again, a little misdirection here. People want to buy the product, however many, if not most want to know what they are buying. If there are two Klingon ships in that blind OP kit, I know at least three people who collect Klingon only who would love to buy those two ships. However, those same people do not want to get "stuck" with any of the other 3 ships they might pull. Telling people simply don't buy the product is also a bit counter productive to the main purpose of the company isn't it?

You can keep making this point right up until the day Wizkids starts releasing all their expansions as blind product and there will be some on here who will still find a way to twist it into some kind of awesome initiative Wizkids geniuses have come up with. Some people simply think Wizkids can do no wrong despite much evidence to the contrary.

And to answer the question as to how this is a money grab by Wizkids it's simple common sense. In order to collect all these ships a player now needs to attend at least 5 events in a three event series. More then likely they will need to attend a lot more as "blind" means a lot of luck will be involved. So players that have been attending one, even two events a month are going to have to attend a lot more to collect all the ships, or attempt to buy them off the secondary market, which if the price of the LE's are any indication, will be a bit costly. So in essence, Wizkids is trying to force people to by a lot more product in order to collect the new blind booster ships. It's Wizkids go to move rather then increase the quality and therefore deman for their product. They also cut the amount of support that comes with the kit, but I highly doubt they cut the price along with it.

Anyway........


More Gama stuffs...

Display case for ST:AW

http://boardgamegeek.com/article/15244233#15244233

featuring
borg tactical cube (wave 5)
vulcan d'kyr (wave 5)
Tholian Ship (Tholian Web)
Gorn Ship (Arena)
Scimitar (wave 9) (oh the foes I will smite with this!!)
Vidiian interceptor (unknown wave) new!

Edit: You can also see the Chang's Bird of Prey (Wave 9) but I didn't notice it until I saw this one from Wintremute

http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/pictur...ictureid=33197

Vidiian interceptor, huh?

This causes me to think two things:

1. Kazon should have just been an Independant faction.
2. This hopefully gets us one stop closer to the Hirogen!

Now, the Vidiians were likely my least favorite Delta species so depending on what the ship offers, I may pass. If it's an OP ship? All the better.

Likewise the Vulcans. I seriously have zero interest in them.

Also, the Gorn ship looks amazing!! I actually think it looks better in-hand when compared with the digital sculpt.

Maybe they are just trying to keep things fresh. SWXW went the route of non-exclusive prizes and never ending death matches in an asteroid field using 100 point constructed squads and despite the high caliber of the game the OP has shriveled up and died in many areas.

I've seen it suggested on these forums that if they wanted to do a sealed/constructed hybrid format they should use the current expansions drawn from a box. I would not participate if they did that. I already have all of the current expansions I want and so does everybody I play this game with. A small lot of new product is just what a game like this needs for a sealed/constructed hybrid format. New product for those of us that already have all of the current ships we want and a small, limited run of blind product to give the completionists a fighting chance to get everything.

I understand that blind buys are anathema to some, I can't say I'm a big fan myself. I think Wizkids is just trying to mix up the OP scene and keep it from stagnating like the SWXW did in some areas. Furthermore, I think this will be a fun format and can't wait to give it a try.

Apparently ThatTeriGirl is going to be doing a google hangout tonight....

Tom shared this for us: https://twitter.com/thedicetower/sta...69176607080448

Like you pointed out, many players already attend multiple events. The group I play OP events with got together for one of our OP6 events last Saturday. We have already begun discussions on how to ensure everybody gets the ships they want by the end of the Borg Collective OP. I seriously doubt we are an unique example. Groups will work together to get the ships in the hands of the players that want them.